Inauguration of the Integrated Memory Clinic
The Neurology Department of H.U.B is inaugurating today its brand-new Integrated Memory Clinic, dedicated to the care of people living with memory disorders or other cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease: a major public health issue
An estimated 200,000 to 220,000 persons in Belgium are at present living with a form of dementia or major neurocognitive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease being the most common cause (in 50% to 70% of cases). By 2050 the number of people living with such a disorder in Belgium is expected to be between 330,000 and 390,000, mainly due to the ageing population. In addition to the patients, thousands of loved ones and care workers are also affected, often facing a fragmented and complex care pathway.
Meeting medical needs that remain insufficiently covered
The Integrated Memory Clinic (CIMe) originated in an inescapable reality: patients with cognitive disorders require an early assessment, a precise diagnosis and coordinated follow-up, covering medical, cognitive, functional and psychosocial dimensions.
The H.U.B’s CIMe thus proposes a comprehensive and systemic patient pathway from the first consultation to long-term monitoring. At a single site a specialised and multidisciplinary team (neurologists, geriatricians, neuropsychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, specialised nurses) is at the service of the patients and their loved ones.
Dr. Jean-Christophe Bier, Neurologist: “Our Integrated Memory Clinic enables us to improve monitoring, support and care for our patients and their families as effectively as possible while respecting their expectations and every specific situation, acting as always at the forefront of science.”
A unique clinic by virtue of its integrated approach and leading edge technologies
The Integrated Memory Clinic is distinctive for the way it integrates in the clinical routine technologies that are rarely found within the same hospital structure: fully equipped observation rooms for the real time monitoring of neurological parameters (recordings day and night), Belgium’s only magnetoencephalography (MEG) machine and a unique virtual reality chamber to assess patients in simulated environments that closely resemble their everyday environment. All of this at the heart of a pathway coordinated by a specialised multidisciplinary team.
This integrated approach permits a better understanding of cognitive disorders, a more personalised care and an improved patient experience.
Clinical care and research: closely linked for the benefit of patients
The Integrated Memory Clinic (CIMe) was also made possible thanks to the support it received from the Erasmus Fund, a committed partner of the H.U.B in developing innovative projects and in research.
Through this support the Erasmus Fund has helped finance clinical research projects pursued in tandem with care activity, including the “Remember” project that served to establish a large cohort of patients across the continuum of Alzheimer’s and associated neurodegenerative diseases with the aim of better defining the prognosis factors for the development of the disease. This research is part of the joint hospital-university dynamic that seeks to achieve progress in medical practices and include scientifically validated innovations more rapidly in patient care and treatment.
Dr. Mélanie Strauss, Neurologist: “With the launch of the Integrated Memory Clinic and the support of the Erasmus Fund, we are building a reference centre combining clinical excellence and high level academic research so as to speed up discoveries and translate them directly into benefits for the patient.”
An inauguration that looks to the future
With the Integrated Memory Clinic the H.U.B’s Department of Neurology is again placing its expertise in the service of treating complex pathologies and affirming its desire to provide a specific and innovative response to the challenges posed by Alzheimer’s disease and memory disorders by proposing individual and personalised pathways for each patient.
Professor Nicolas Gaspard, Head of the Department of Neurology at the H.U.B: “Thanks to the Integrated Memory Clinic and support from the Erasmus Fund, the H.U.B’s Department of Neurology is adopting a resolutely positive and bold approach to the future of neurodegenerative diseases.”
